Ginormously Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Stripes, Lace, A Major Thrifting Expedition, Limo in Leather and A Blue Study

Well, I didn't intend to be gone that long! Amazing how the days fly by!

Let's time travel back to...Thursday!

Thursday was my first fill-in at the early evening WW meeting right after work. I wanted to look a little kooky, a little artsy, but all business.

• Dress - no label, vintage 70s, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in January with caramel boots
• Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevog; last seen here (2nd outfit) for an art attack at the Gallery earlier this month

It's really a simple outfit: a striped dress and all matching accessories.

I've been pointing out to all and sundry that the stripes on this dress all line up on every seam. That's a sign of quality - it's a big waste of fabric to line everything up just so.

The stuff:

After working all day, then doing the WW meeting until about 6:30, I dashed off to catch the bus to Book Club. By this point, these shoes were in my bag and I was in my walkin' shoes. Feet sore.

Copper bling:

It makes my heart sing to wear the copper bling!

• Necklace, bracelet, earrings - all Renoir, all vintage 60s, all thrift fairs
• Cuff -  Renoir, vintage 60s, Grandma J
• Rings - vintage fair

I got home rather late (and somewhat pickled), and crashed into bed. Another day of work to go?

Outrageous! This calls for another dress. Easy-peasy.

• Dress - Banana Republic, thrifted; last seen here with green and gold in November 2014
• Boots - 1883 Lucchesse, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) for some shopping in late February

The tights are a dark burgundy, and I liked how they toned with all the burgundy accents.

Several of my coworkers liked how my cowboy boots clashed with the fancy-schmancy lace pattern of the dress.

The stuff:

I love these boots. In the zombie apocalypse, these will be my go-to shoes. Maybe with my floral Docs thrown in for good measure.

Minimal bling:

A lovely leather obi. Most people didn't notice the scarf because it blended into my hair.

• Obi - local, gift from L
• Scarf - Sacha, vintage 70s
• Ring - Uffizi Gallery gift shop

After work on Friday, I felt like a quick bout of retail therapy, since I spent most of Friday with a titch of a headache. I'm sure it wasn't the wine, heh heh.

I popped into the WIN Warehouse store, and discovered that they had a special promotion for Friday the 13th: if you wrote down a quote from a horror movie, you got another 25% off. My quote was, "Heeerrrre's Johnny!" from The Shining.

I finally found a turquoise suede pencil skirt!

It's a vintage 80s style by Danier and it's in great condition.

Check it out, I found the inspector label (it was made in Canada).

Thank you, Maria and Soonanh! The skirt was $14.50, which came to $10.88 with my discount.

As I've mentioned before, I'm having major love for the styles of the 1970s, including this fab maxi skirt.

Oh, that border! I can't wait to swan about in this!

It's by Mister Leonard, and was made in Canada.

It came with a same fabric-covered belt, but it's in crappy shape, so I'll probably never wear it. It was $9.50, but with the discount it came to $7.12.

I debated over this, then decided, "What the heck!"

It's a three-piece set, solidly 80s, of a camisole/tank top, belt and skirt.

The colours! This is by Helene Strasser, and it's made in West Germany. That actually dates it nicely, since we know when the Wall came down.

The skirt is midi-length, with a white ruffled underskirt. The top part is all silk chiffon, and the skirt is gently pleated.

The full deal:

Someone is coming to investigate!

The whole thing is trimmed with that lovely cobalt blue satin ribbon. I don't know if I'll ever wear it all together, but it was $22.50, reduced to $16.88 with the discount. How does one say no to that??

I also spotted this lovely orange leather studded cuff.

It's very me, no? It was $8.50 originally, $6.38 with the discount.

After a rousing evening of Arkham Horror, L and I got up bright and early to go for breakfast.

I'd already planned to hit my other favourite thrift stores, and because we had Big Plans on Sunday, I had to do my grocery shopping a day early.

• Dress - Kensie, consignment; last worn here (way down, 4th outfit) in February for another thrift shopping expedition
• Boots - Ash; last seen here in the same outfit as that dress!

I'm so original. I like comfy dresses on the weekend, and good solid walking shoes.

Also, these clothes and boots are easy to slip off and on, and I can easily try stuff on over top of them (and under them) without fully disrobing. That's key!

Outerwear:

It was a lovely mellow afternoon, browsing through stores and looking at beautiful things (okay, most things in thrift stores are not beautiful, but I do find a lot of lovely things).

The stuff:

Minimal jewelry to lessen the chances of snagging.

• Earrings - local

The Officer wanted to go out on the deck before we left.

"Open the door, woman! I have crows to chirp at!"

He's been very demanding lately.

My first stop on my thrifting adventure was the St. Vincent de Paul. I always find one or two good things there. Like these funky metallic sandals!

A lovely cork sculpted wedge, good colour, and in good shape. And only $6.00!

Someone must have had a major closet clean-out. There were oodles of Fairweather clothes, all from around the mid-90s to early 00s. I used to work at Fairweather, which was a classy Canadian mall chain for many decades (kind of like Banana Republic) so these were sentimental to me.

This lovely black wool blend camisole caught my eye.

All hand-beaded and made in Hong Kong...

For $3.00? Get out of town!

I might not wear this crocheted cami a ton, but I love the colour and the shape of it.

Again, only $3.00!

Such a score.

I loved the mod 60s look of this zip-front cardigan.

The brand is Molisa, which is apparently from Australia. How cool. This was $4.00 and expect to see it for St. Paddy's Day tomorrow!

From the SVdeP, I walked up to the Hospice Store. This store is closing (boo) after several years - their lease is up, and I'm sure it was difficult to run a profitable business here. They had a customer appreciation day on (they close next week), with 60% minimum off on all goods.

I found this lovely silk chiffon blouse.

It's by Jones New York, and I'd say it's from the late 90s based on the shape and cut of it (I had tops like this back then).

Look at that beadwork!

The back buttons up, and all that beading is hand-done. This was $6.50 with 60% off, so $2.60.

I had tried these pants on during a previous visit, and there they still were!

I know, wild, aren't they? They are a modern pant for sure! High waist, fully lined, slightly tapered at the ankle.

They are silk and wool, and are by Talbots, although I am sure they "borrowed" this lock and key print idea from Dolce & Gabbana's lock and key print that I saw when I was in Rome.

Mine were $15.00 plus 60% off, so $6.00.

Fresh off those two exciting finds, I trundled up to the WIN Boutique a few blocks away.

I've been looking for cardis to go over tanks and spring/summer dresses, and loved the wonderful yellowy-green of this one. Peridot, the cool kids call it.

This was $6.00, and is by Jessica Howard. Sorry, Jessica, never heard of you. Looks like she specializes in dresses, so this cardigan makes perfect sense.

I couldn't believe this awesome denim jacket was in the "regular" (non-boutique) section:

Ah! Military! Equestrian! The lapels! The buttons!

Look at the buttons!

And only $8.50. Seriously, $8,50. It's by Boom Boom Jeans. I am so excited to wear it.

I'm sure that if this skirt still had its brand label on it, it would have been in the boutique section.

Beautifully made, great fabric, awesome fit. It's all fully line and check out this subtle pattern.

And yes, only $6.00. Score! It feels like a Banana Republic or other high-end item.

Saturday night was more chillin', getting ready for the Grand Sunday Adventure!

It's the weekend. I like to wear a lot of leather, and I like comfort. Easy outfit.

• Top - Jeanne Bekker, consignment; last seen here (way down after the travel pics) in February with greys
• Skirt - Danier, thrifted; last worn here in May 2014 with chunky turquoise
• Boots - Aerosoles, consignment; last seen here in December 2014 with a telltale heart

Add a few chunky accessories. I didn't think too much about it.

I had other things on my mind.

The stuff:

I'm debating about keeping these boots. Unlike the skirt above (which has not been worn much), the boots don't really fill a hole in my wardrobe. I have other black ankle boots. These may leave me soon.

Badass blingery:

I rattled my chains like Jacob Marley all day.

• Necklace - Club Monaco
• Studded cuff - homegrown vintage 80s
• Leather cuff - Guess, thrifted
• Earrings - local

One of the draw prizes at my company's big Christmas gala was a limo ride for 8. I really wanted to win it, but I was still excited for my coworker and his wife to enjoy it. A few days later, he came up to me and insisted I take it, just for me, to thank me. I nearly cried.

Vizzini was not too pleased to have me gone all day.

"Ignore that twitchy tail!"

So, yes, my wonderful 5 besties and I gathered so darned early on Sunday morning.

We had our brollies, our (spiked) coffee, oh and check that out.

It's our limo! A big sweetass white princess limo!

They set the bar up for us.

We happily chilled all of our liqueurs in the ice provided, then topped up our coffees (we all brought thermoses and carafes).

Just to explain why every shot has us clutching our travel mugs!

The beautiful Karen and Yvonne.

Laughing Cat and Vero.

Yvonne with her coffee.

It was a hugely rainy day, which was a little disappointing because most of my pictures were of raindrops on the windows.

But look at our snuggly little limo cave!

We were perfectly happy.

Caro, Vero and me.

And now for some blurry shots of the local exciting landmarks.

My city is famous for these lampposts. Really.

We drove all over - we had a full 2 hours!

This is Fisherman's Wharf (see the masts?).

This is some of the lovely spring blooms that we couldn't really see.

That's Beacon Hill Park, the loveliest park in town.

The waterfront.

One lonely bench on the cliff, looking onto the grey waves.

Coming around Ross Bay.

It's much prettier when it's not raining.

Many brave souls ventured out.

"La la, I'm in my limo, and you are wet."

I've walked along here many times.

Most people here can handle rain - notice no one is using an umbrella.

We stopped for a bathroom break at the swanky Oak Bay Beach Hotel.

What a cool car! I think it's a Lamborghini?

We just waltzed in like we owned the place.

Vero and Caro

As one does!

You may recognize this from my Unlimited Woman Awards in 2013.

My gorgeous babes...

The camera's blurry because I'm blurry, hee hee.

I took this one, then one of the guests volunteered to take our pictures.

One of our top halves...

"And one of your feet," he said.

Why, thank you, stranger!

Our wonderful chauffeur Bob.

He was such a sweetheart.

We went down to Cadboro Bay Beach.

If you look carefully, you can see a red octopus - that's for kids to climb on (I played on it when I was a kid!).

And we went through the University of Victoria.

I got my degree from there!

Pretty pink blossoms everywhere.

And to the best spot of all...the top of Mount Tolmie, where we could see the whole city!

We climbed up on the rocks. Downtown is in the far left distance.

Karen and her brolly.

And Cat too!

My favourite picture of the whole day.

It was windy and blustery and rainy, but it was ours!

Nearly done, past the Parliament Buildings (which are actually the Legislature, or the Ledge if you're local, also known as the Rockpile).

And then past the world-famous Empress Hotel...

And to our wonderful men, who were holding down the big table for us at the Garrick's Head Pub.

There's L in his turquoise shirt and Dolphins satin jacket (yes).

And final pics with Bob before we continued with our merriment and men.

Hmmm...which one of us has had the most special coffee?

I think it might be Teeth McGee over there on the left...

Randall grabbed my camera.

We hung out for a few hours, then toddled off home to crash on the couch. What an amazing adventure!

Jordan and Katrina, I can't thank you both enough. This was a wonderful time - one of the best days I've ever had. Thank you!

So, after all that, getting out of bed and getting my mojo back in the groove was no mean feat!

Hell, man, it's Monday!

No new items - no time to get them put together into outfits yet, so an outfit that was "in waiting". Why not go blue?

• Jacket  - vintage 50s, Tricot d'Or, thrifted; last seen here in January with an uncommon amount of black
• Skirt - Plum, thrifted; last worn here in May 2014 with Chinoiserie
• Shoes - Feet First; last seen here in August 2014 with grass green

It was a very popular outfit at work - everyone loves a sparkly blue jacket!

I'm a little iffy on the navy blue skirt, but it has such good swoosh!

The stuff:

I'm somewhat shocked that I didn't wear these gorgeous blue shoes all fall/winter! No chance they will leave my closet, though.

Blue bling:

'Cause if you're going to be blue, be all blue.

• Belt - Danier
• Earrings - local
• Ring - Scotland, 1996
• Lapis Lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes

And now...it's taken me over 2 hours to write this post! And I am sore and tired from the gym, and I need to go... Back tomorrow!